Owners to close Berkeley Farms, in business 110 years
Longtime dairy falls victim to parent company's bankruptcy
Berkeley Farms, the Bay Area milk producer and dairy brand known to generations of regional families, is about to be no more.
Dean Foods, the Dallas-based parent company of Berkeley Farms, confirmed Wednesday it will close its Hayward facilities, most likely by the end of April, thus bringing an end to more than 100 years of Berkeley Farms' presence in the Bay Area. Dean Foods said there are approximately 315 people who work at Berkeley Farms who will lose their jobs as a result of the closure.
The closure comes amid Dean selling most of its operations to Dairy Farmers of America, for $433 million, as part of Dean's Chapter 11 bankruptcy process, which began in November 2019.
“This was an extremely tough decision for the Dean Foods family,” said a Dean spokesperson, in a statement given to this news organization. “Our intention was to sell the Berkeley Farms facility as an ongoing business, meaning operations would have continued; unfortunately, the lack of interested buyers has made the decision necessary.”
Dean Foods said Berkeley Farms' non-union employees will be entitled to severance, but didn't give any details about the terms of such packages. The company said it is negotiating with its union employees on severance package terms.
Dean Foods also said it will now look for a buyer for the Berkeley Farms real estate.
Despite the closure of Berkeley Farms' Hayward operations, the Berkeley Farms name may
still remain on grocery store shelves around the Bay Area.
Producers Dairy Foods, which is based in Fresno, has entered into an agreement to purchase Berkeley Farms’ trademarks from
Dean Foods for $3,001,000. Richie Shehadey, director of marketing for Producers, said the company is expecting to finalize its purchase in a few days, and is intending on selling milk products under the Berkeley Farms name.
“Our goal is to continue to produce milk with the Berkeley Farms brand, at
our plants in Fresno and Fairfield, where we are already close to local milk suppliers in the Bay Area,” Shehady said.
Berkeley Farms Bay Area roots date back to 1910, when a local businessman, John Sabatte, set up the original business as the South Berkeley Creamery, in Berkeley. The company eventually changed its name to Berkeley Farms, and Sabette’s family continued to run the business until selling it to Dean Foods in 1998. That same years, That same year, Berkeley Farms relocated its operations to its current facilities in Hayward.
The company had one of the most-identifiable ad campaigns in the Bay Area,
with the tagline, “Farms in Berkeley?” which was accompanied by a cow replying, “Moooo!”
Sabatte and his family members continued to run Berkeley Farms until selling the company to Dean Foods in 1998.